


Maybe this was a Bad IdeaTM

by BSAtheSilentArtist, ladydragonqueenofthemoths



Category: SCP Foundation
Genre: Clef Angst, Cultural Differences, Drowning, Dudes kissing Dudes, I use a quote from SCP-4231, Interspecies Relationship(s), Kidnapping, Might write more, Multi, OC cameos that show up once or twice, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reference to SCP-4231, This took a weird turn, merfolk, ”The Beach Episode”
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:55:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27750376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BSAtheSilentArtist/pseuds/BSAtheSilentArtist, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydragonqueenofthemoths/pseuds/ladydragonqueenofthemoths
Summary: So this literally started as the troupe anime “Beach Episode” and then suddenly Yoric and one of my merfolks stole the whole damn thing. I still don’t know how that happened. As you know I suck with summaries so I hope you like it. Also huge thank you to BSAtheSilentArtist who helped me out so much during the whole writing process.
Relationships: Dr. Alto Clef/Dr. Benjamin Kondraki, Dr. Gears/Dr. Iceberg (SCP Foundation), Dr. Jack Bright/Dr. Gerald, Dr. Simon Glass/Diogenes, Poor Yoric/Original Male Character
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Maybe this was a Bad IdeaTM

**Author's Note:**

> If you thought this was gonna be all uwu Foundation Staff Beach Episode, then you’ve come to the wrong place. I’m sorry. This went from that to YORIC GETS A MERMAN BOYFRIEND.

It was one of those rare occasions where the Foundation deemed it necessary for some of their employees to take a few days off. Normally O5 would have a small collective few taking a break and then the others would follow the following week or month depending. This time however, the person in charge of scheduling vacations botched it so that Doctors Kondraki, Clef, Bright, Glass, Gerald, Gears, and Iceberg, and Agents Lament, Yoric, and Diogenes had vacation on the same week... they more than likely lost a bet to Bright and this was the payment. Well, so long as no one ended up in the news like Clef and Agent Strelnikov, the better. This was how the group of ten found themselves in Roxwater, Michigan. It was a small town, not enough that the residents knew each other though, it was similar to Green Bay in that aspect. Giant cabin with Lake Superior to look at and even a small beach to boot. No one around except for them, meaning that they didn’t have to filter most of what came out of their mouths… not that they did that anyway.  
“Bright, how did you manage to get us all on vacation together?” Gears questioned when they all started settling into the mansion sized cabin.  
“Come on, Charles, do we really gotta question why? It’s a beautiful cabin, with a beautiful view of a lake in the back…”  
“Just like every basic horror movie.” Clef cackled.  
“How much you wanna bet Glass is the first to disappear?” Bright joked.  
“Knowing Jack, he’d be the first to die.” Diogenes replied. The group continued to joke and gripe as they continued to stock the kitchen before picking rooms to sleep in and unpacking. Given both the flight and drive here took a while, it was practically nighttime and damn if they weren’t tired.

Night rolled into day and the group was up. After ingesting more coffee then nine men and Diogenes should be allowed to drink, the group decided that they’d go chill near the lake, though Lament and Yoric opted to stay inside. Changing into some swimwear the group met up near the living room. Both Gears and Diogenes wore wetsuits; Gears’ had a black base with gray accents that outlined his torso and outer legs along with a pair of water shoes, claiming that touching the ground with his bare feet was out of the question, while Diogenes’ wore a purple wetsuit designed with palm leaves across the body and flip flops, they brought fisherman’s boot… why? No one knew, but someone would get some use out of them... probably. Not surprising, Clef wore a hideous pair of yellow swim trunks with a combination of flowers and pineapples along with a pair of gray birkenstock sandals, his counterpart, his better half if you will, wore a simple pair of forest green trunks and black sandals. Bright, being the gremlin that he was and not to be out done by Clef in the weird clothes department; wore a pair of neon green swim trunks with flowers lit on fire, and to add a level of uncomfortableness to this ensemble he wore a pair of pastel rainbow toe socks, like that was what you wore to the beach or any gathering involving water. Glass wore a plain white t-shirt with red swim trunks and a pair of pink flip flops, Gerald wore a generic pair of blue tropical flower swim trunks and pale blue sandals, and Iceberg wore a black pair of pink flamingo trunks, no shoes, because it wasn’t like they’d do anything for him.  
“Um… Bright? Why the socks?” Iceberg questioned looking at Bright’s feet.  
“I like to think of it as expanding my dialogue options.”  
“You say that like we’re not the only ones here.” Kondraki spoke.  
“You never know.” Bright shrugged.

The eight set out for the lake, well a few did. Clef opted to stay on land and get a tan while Kondraki stayed by him, reading. Glass and Diogenes decided to go shell hunting. Iceberg floated atop an inner tube, most of the marine life staying away from his cold body while Gears watched him from afar at the docks. The rest were either swimming or merely floating along the lake. Gerald, deciding to take a break from swimming, decided to go see if Glass and Diogenes found any shells or rocks.  
“Hey, how’s the hunt going?” Gerald inquired when he approached Glass. Diogenes was a bit away, not far, but enough to where they couldn’t hear Gerald.  
“Alright, we’ve only found fragments so far.” Glass showed the bucket of broken shell pieces.  
“Simon! Look at this!” The two looked up to see Diogenes bounding over their hand clenched in a fist. “Oh hey, Gerald. Simon look at this.” Diogenes opened their hand to reveal a small, red rock with white flecks on it.  
“Oooh, pretty.” Glass admired.  
“Oh you found an orphan. Let’s see if we can find it’s parents.” Gerald half-joked. There was a brief moment of silence. Glass and Diogenes looked at each other, to the rock in Diogenes’ hand, to the outstretched land and water, and then back at each other. They both nodded, they knew what needed to be.  
“We gotta find them parents.” Glass spoke first.  
“Glass, you check near the shore. Gerald, you check around here, I’ll check over there, and break.” Both Glass and Diogenes dashed off to their locations leaving Gerald alone. He shrugged his shoulders before crouching down and looking for a larger, red rock with white flecks.

The search went on for a good ten minutes, each person finding more and more rocks and pebbles, but none could be parents. Diogenes turned so they were facing Iceberg and Gears. From where Gerald was standing he could see Diogenes cradling a plethora of rocks in their arms and a look of distress.  
“ICEBERG! GEARS! HELP US FIND PARENTS FOR THESE ORPHANS!” Thank 343, or whoever was in charge that they were the only ones here. If anyone else was here and heard what Diogenes just cried they’d expect to see a gaggle of children near them, not small rocks in their arms. Both Gears and Iceberg turned their attention to their upset colleague, moving closer to land to see what Diogenes was upset about.  
“Diogenes, where is Glass? Perhaps he can help you locate parental units for these sedimentary rocks.” Gears spoke, once the situation was explained to both him and Iceberg. Gerald cleared his throat in that way that says “I need your attention”. The trio looked to Gerald before looking to where he was pointing. Glass was still in the water, drenched from diving under the water and resurfacing. An inaudible cry from Glass as he is seen putting a small rock in his bucket again.  
“Glass! Get over here!” Iceberg called. The psychiatrist perked up before picking up his bucket and going over to the others.  
“Have you been crying?” Gerald asked.  
“No, just diving and finding more orphans.” Glass replied. There was an air of sadness that hung around the good doctor.  
“How many rocks did you give emotional trauma stories to?” Iceberg knew how Glass worked, he was a psychiatrist through and through, and sometimes that thought process didn’t shut off. Sometimes he created problems for inanimate objects for him to fix, which made sense when most of the people he spoke with didn’t tell him their problems.  
“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to.” Glass replied.  
“How many rocks do you have in the bucket?” Gears questioned.  
“Ummm,” Glass looked in the bucket before looking back at Gears, “two hundred and six.”  
“Are you serious, Glass? They’re a bunch of literal rocks!”  
“You’re a bunch of literal rocks, Iceberg!” Glass picked up a smooth greenish blue rock, “Jerry is going through some abandonment issues, he lost his parents as an infant and was raised by his mean aunt and uncle…”  
“Glass that’s the plot to Harry Potter.”  
“It is a common occurrence, Iceberg!” Iceberg and Gears both agreed to help find parents after this.

Clef had fallen asleep under the sun, his hat resting over his face. Kondraki lying next to him reading Stephen King’s “Cujo”. He looked up when his light was blocked by the shadow of a wet Bright.  
“He asleep?” Bright questioned Kondraki. A small snore was heard from the former GOC agent confirming his question.  
“Finally.” Kondraki looked over his bag and pulled out some sunscreen.  
“What are you doing?” Bright asked.  
“Last time Clef and I went on vacation he thought it would be funny to draw a couple of dicks on me with a sharpie.” He explained as he drew a dick on Clef’s stomach with the sunscreen.  
“How long do you think it’ll take for him to notice?” Kondraki shrugged.  
“Probably when he wakes up.”  
“Wanna bet?”  
“Not today.” It was Bright’s turn to shrug.  
“Alright, well I’ll leave you to your book. I’m gonna go see what Gerald’s doing.”

After an hour or so had gone by Clef began to stir. He lifted his hat up to find Kondraki reading the same book he’d been reading before he fell asleep.  
“How far are you, Konny?”  
“Page 206. I was on page 50 when we got out.” He said, handing Clef a bottle of water before returning to his book. “Don’t need you getting a heat stroke.” Clef nodded his head before sitting up, a wave of dizziness hitting him, yeah, that wasn’t a good sign. He took a few sips of water, letting the dizziness fade, he looked to his arms and stomach.  
“Damn, I’m redder than a lobster… What the hell man?!” Kondraki looked up from his book.  
“Did you think there weren’t going to be consequences when you drew on me? Do you know how long it took to get those dicks off? I had to leave for a meeting that day.”  
“I know I was there.” Clef laughed at the memory of Kondraki throwing a couple of large bandaids over the sharpie dicks before rushing out of the door.  
“You know, that’s not as funny as you think it is.” Kondraki watched as Clef quickly willed away his sunburnt skin along with the sunscreen dick he drew, no one was looking after all.  
“It was hilarious! I’ve never seen you throw that many bandaids on yourself so quickly in either of our lives.” He continued to cackle.  
“You are lucky I love you and that I’m more invested in this book than kicking your ass right now.” Kondraki turned his attention back to his book, ignoring Clef. Clef decided to go walk around.

Over in the water, hidden by a log was a merman. The merman was named Merrick the Second, or Merrick depending on who was talking to him. For a little backstory on Merrick the Second; he was a freshwater merman, this meant he was small; he and others like him were bigger than the actual fish in the lake, but compared to the ocean merfolk… most of them could probably eat him for lunch. But back to Merrick; he was a Muskie Merman, making his tail light gray striped with a slightly muted gray-ish beige, though his underside was a plain white and most of his fins were a reddish color, he was of average body size, healthy by Muskie Merfolk standards anyway. His hair was long and dark, his eyes were black, and his teeth sharp. Merrick looked to the shoreline, watching as the most beautiful creature walked along. He felt his heart skip a beat, he was in love. He wanted to go up and talk to him, say hi, maybe ask him out, but there were too many people around. What if they tried capturing him? No, that wouldn’t do. Oh gods, he was looking this way! Merrick ducked under the water. He’d have to wait til he was alone to talk to him, but when would that be? Well, he’d have to be patient. Good things came to those who waited after all.

Clef continued walking into the sandy area of land, but still stayed a good distance away from the water. As he continued to walk he couldn’t help but feel like something or someone was watching him. He looked out to the lake, seeing a log floating along. He shook his head. He was probably just imagining things. They were the only ones here after all, nothing was out there. Continuing on his walk he came across something in the sand he didn’t think he’d find here; a horseshoe crab. It was pretty small all things considered, but still big enough to freak a person out. Clef looked over to where Kondraki was still lying, his head was down indicating that he’d finished reading and was most likely resting his eyes. A lightbulb went off in his head as he approached the arthropod and carefully picked it up. The creature didn’t mind this, appearing indifferent to its current predicament. Without a word the former GOC Agent approached his partner.

Kondraki finished reading “Cujo” a while ago, he planned on rereading “Pet Sematary '' next, but wanted to rest his eyes for a bit. Clef was off walking and none of the others would bother him unless it was dire, so he tucked his face into his arms and shut his eyes. The King of the Booooterflies fell into a half-sleep, something he’d grown accustomed to doing over the years, it was either this or sleep with one eye open every night. So it was no surprise when he stirred at the sensation of something crawling across his back. Still a bit groggy he tried to shoo what he thought was SCP-408 away until he felt a shell of sorts and also remembered 408 was not here. Which begged the question, what was on his back? In one fluid motion Kondraki grabbed the thing on his back before chucking it away from him and scrambling to his feet. Behind him he heard the all to familiar laughter of Alto fucking Clef and his bullshit. He was going to kill him when he got his hands on him or he would have if the horseshoe crab wasn’t flying directly towards both of them. That was when both men screamed and booked it in the opposite direction. Horseshoe crabs weren’t supposed to fly. They don’t fly! What in the world was this thing and why did it look like a horseshoe crab?  
“I think we found another SCP, my dear Konny!” Clef responded as if he was reading Kondraki’s mind. The two dove to the ground as the horseshoe crab, or whatever that thing was flew past them and into the woods. Kondraki was the first to recover.  
“You are so dead!” Both Clef and Kondraki scrambled to their feet as the taller chased after the shorter. “Clef get back here!” The others heard Kondraki’s voice boom.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out the gremlin had pissed the other off, which then begged the question; do they help catch Clef or let Kondraki handle it on his own?  
“Fifty bucks to anyone who can get Clef in the lake.” Bright’s voice rang with a smirk. He had that trademark twinkle in his eye that you knew meant it probably wasn’t a good idea, but at the same time you’re morbidly curious to see where it goes. That was all it took for the others to look at Kondraki and Clef and make a b line straight for Clef.

Kondraki was quick, he had long legs after all so he could tear up asphalt, but Clef didn’t remember him having more than two hands. He found himself surrounded by his colleagues and Kondraki. They started dragging him, to where he didn’t know. He was a bit more focused on trying to escape their hold on him. The group made it to the floating dock with relative ease, before Iceberg unfastened the rope and pushed them off. It wasn’t until both Kondraki and Clef felt the ground under them become uneven that mmmmboth of them froze.  
“Where are we?” Clef asked, trying to keep a cool head, though he already had an idea of where they were. Kondraki could already see the panic setting in Clef’s eyes. They were on the lake.  
“ _We’re_ on the dock and _you_ will be in Lake Superior.” Bright smirked. They watched as Clef went from his usual smirk and bravado to pure fear, something that was rarely seen in the man if at all.  
“No, no, no! Don’t you dare you motherfuckers!” Instead of trying to pull away from them, Clef grabbed anything he could and held tight as he tried to stop himself from trembling. Memories began to come flooding back; the rain, _her_ , what she did, everything. He didn’t want to think about that, he didn’t want to be there.  
“Ow! Clef, let go of my hair!” Iceberg yelped.  
Kondraki had to think quickly, he knew Clef hated the water, feared it, but he wasn’t about to tell the others that, but he couldn’t back down either. That would lead to questions that neither he nor Clef were ready to answer.  
“Apologize and we won’t throw you in.” Kondraki finally said. It was still in the realm of his characteristics; it wouldn’t be odd for him to get an apology out of Clef, no questions would be asked. It’d just be chalked up as Clef not wanting to get wet.  
“Fine! Fine! I’m sorry! Just get me the fuck off of this you fucker!” He shouted. Kondraki just shrugged his shoulders.  
“Let him down.” He motioned for them to set him down. They did as they were told, partly out of fear of what Kondraki would do and partly out of concern from Clef’s response. The panic appeared to die down a bit, Clef still looked shaken up, but other than that he appeared fine. Clef moved to get closer to Kondraki when a splash was heard, followed by screaming.  
“KONNY!” Clef was under the water. He managed to break the surface, desperately grasping for anything he could get his hands on. The others froze. Clef really wasn’t lying when he said he couldn’t swim. All they could do was watch dumbfoundedly as Clef bobbed up and down in the water, the fear and panic making itself known again.  
Another splash was heard, they looked over and found Kondraki was not on the dock with them anymore. They looked to the water and saw him surface grabbing Clef, though that didn’t stop the panicked flailing coming from the smaller of the two. In any other situation, this might have been seen as comical; Alto fucking Clef; former GOC, Agent Ukelele, the resident badass of the Foundation afraid, but it was anything but comical. This wasn’t the same fear that you saw in the horror movies, the ones where the girl screamed at the poorly designed monster or the funny jumpscare that made you feel ridiculous for even being scared. No, this was old fear. Fear that ran long and deep into the very core of a person’s being. Fear that never should see the light of day. And they caused it. They drudged up something that they should have never touched, never should have seen.

Merrick watched from his spot as his beloved ran from a tall human. The tall one seemed angry with him. Why though? Hopefully he’ll be okay. It wasn’t like the others were- oh no! They were all chasing him. Why? Why were they doing this? He watched as Clef struggled to free himself from the others until they got him on the dock. They were getting close to him, he had to save his love from these monsters. He dipped underwater and silently swam closer. Screw his safety, his beloved was in danger. He had to do something, had to get him away from these horrible men and… person? He shook his head. Who cares, they were all a danger to his love and he wouldn’t let them continue to hurt him anymore. He swam to the surface, jumping out of the water and grabbing his love by the waist, he pulled him back as both fell into the water. He watched as Clef flailed in the water, happy to be freed from his captor. He wanted to swim up and talk to him, but he forced himself to the surface, no doubt to tell them that he would no longer be staying with them and that he would be spending his life with him. He was over the moon, that is until that tall human jumped into the lake. He was getting close to his love, he couldn’t have that. He watched as the taller human wrapped his arms around Clef, who continued to flail around, trying to drag him away, his blood boiled. How dare this human try to prevent them from being happy. He needed to do something and fast, he needed to save his love.

The group remained frozen as Kondraki tried to bring Clef back to land, but between his panicking and flat out thrashing about made it difficult for the taller man to pull them there, he was struggling just to keep both of their heads above the water.  
“Hey, a little help here!” Kondraki managed to say. Gears was the first to jump out of his stupor, simply diving into the water to assist Kondraki in pulling Clef to shore.  
“How do you wish to proceed in bringing Alto back to land?”  
“Just start swimming.”  
“Very well… something is biting my leg. This is painful.” Gears furrowed his brows slightly, but otherwise remained expressionless.  
“What could possibly be biting you?” Bright asked from the dock. Iceberg looked into the water, searching for anything that could potentially be attacking Gears. And that’s when he saw the mermai-man, merman, clamped onto Gears’ leg.  
“What the fuck?!” Iceberg didn’t realize he’d dove into the water until he was face to face with the merman, who still bit into his boyfriend’s leg. He reached over and grabbed the guy by his neck. The chilling grip took Merrick by surprise. No human could be this cold and alive, he let go of the leg he was biting to try and get this new, colder human off of him, but everything around him was cold, freezing like this human’s grip. Merrick felt himself get pulled to the surface, a gasp is heard before they both go back down again. Merrick felt himself grow drowsy, like he did during the winter and the lake froze over, his struggling became less frantic, more slowed until he finally stopped moving. Satisfied with his victory, Iceberg swam up to the surface.  
“Julian, are you alright?”  
“Am I alrig- Am I alright?! You just got bit!”  
“Hey! Less chatting more getting him to land.” Kondraki was done with this. He just wanted to get Clef out and in the cabin or simply just on land, preferably alone so that he could do what he needed to ground himself.

After what felt like eons, but was really a few minutes, the group made it back to land. Kondraki had some open cuts from Clef’s thrashing and kicking, Gears’ leg was bleeding from the merman attack, and Clef… Clef was in a whole different category; since returning to land he’d been reduced to a quivering mess, clinging to Kondraki, the merman must have done more damage to him than they thought; his chest was bleeding from possible scratch and bite marks and his back covered in bruises, Kondraki didn’t need to look to know the bruising on Clef’s pelvis were there too, he knew it wasn’t from the merman, but he wasn’t about to correct anyone on this. Clef’s hair still clung to him as water dripped down from his trembling body and silent tears fell from his face. Glass had run into the cabin and brought out a few first aid kits and one of Clef’s Hawaiian button ups. Between Gerald being the walking disaster he was and just knowing how his colleagues were he’d be stupid not to bring a couple of med kits with him, and he figured Clef would want to cover up. He handed a med kit to Kondraki along with his shirt.  
“I know he’s not gonna want me to touch him.” Glass offered a small smile. Kondraki nodded his head in thanks as he wordlessly pulled Clef away. He carefully draped the shirt over Clef’s shoulders and began to bandage up his chest. The other was silent, still shaking, still trapped in the hell she put him through, murmuring apologizes to the others.  
“Damn and here I thought you were lying about not being able to swim.” Bright opened his mouth to continue, to joke and lighten the mood, when Clef distanced himself from Kondraki and shot his head up and looked at Bright. There was a look in his eyes none of them had seen in Clef before; a desperate look, like he was tired, like he was mustering up his last shred of dignity. Like he was finally fighting back against something, someone.  
“ **I AM NOT A LIAR! I HAVE NEVER LIED YOU, YOU CAN’T MAKE SHIT UP ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED!** ” He screeched at Bright, but that wasn’t who Clef was seeing. He saw _her_. _Her_ with the antlers and teeth, the monster who at one point he loved, in some sick way still loved. Because he’d rather have someone, anyone, even if that someone hurt him, beat him, warped the reality around them to fit their narrative, than to be alone. Pathetic. That’s what he was. Pathetic, weak, useless, ugly, a liar… Nothing. That was more fitting to he was. He was nothing without his lies. Nothing without the tales he spun. He was absolutely and utterly nothing, and _she_ would make sure he never forgot that. It’s at this point Clef lowered his head and sobbed. He hands gripped his hair as he tried to stop. _She_ hated when he cried, because how dare he feel the way he did. How dare he try to bring up what _she’s_ done to him. _Her_ flaws, _her_ problems, _her_ descent into level four.

Everyone was silent, shocked. None of them had ever heard Clef speak with an English accent before, a Cornish accent no less, but that wasn’t the worst of it. The worst of it was seeing him cry like this. Seeing him so broken. Bright opened his mouth to speak again but quickly shut it upon the look he got from both Kondraki and Glass.  
“We’ll be over here if you need any help, Kondraki.” Glass said as he ushered the others away. He knew Clef had problems, they all did, but this was the first time he ever saw first hand how bad it was. He wanted to help Clef so badly, but he couldn’t make Clef talk to him, well he could, but forcing your patients to talk only made things worse, not better. The walk away was silent, the only noise filling the air was Clef’s sobs.

Glass shot another look at Bright. The kind of look a mother gives her child when said child upset their other sibling.  
“Do you ever think before you speak, Jack?” Glass questioned.  
“I didn’t think he was that bad. I was just trying to lighten the mood, I swear.” Glass’s eyes softened. He saw the tell tale smirk Bright got in his eyes when he was about to add to his observation. He knew he wasn’t lying to them about trying to lighten the mood. To give Clef some level of normalcy, to let him pretend nothing was wrong. But something was different about this situation. No, it wasn’t that Clef was like Gears, but that level of fear, the fact he was crying, sobbing… It wasn’t something any of them thought Clef had the capacity for.  
“And that’s the problem, you didn’t think. He was already wound up Bright, I doubt one of your jokes would have helped.” Iceberg spoke as he cleaned out Gears’ bite wound. If Iceberg was honest he wanted to pretend he never saw that fear in Clef’s eyes. Never heard the broken sobs that wracked through his body. Everyone was afraid of something, sure, and like Glass, he knew Clef was fucked up… but to see him like that… He didn’t want to dwell on that for long. “How’s your leg, Charles?”  
“Taking stock of my injury and comparing them to past injuries, this is more of a mild inconvenience. This is not the first time I have been bit, of course. Are you alright Julian? You did get into a fight with that man responsible.”  
“It was a merman and _I’m_ fine. Again, I didn’t get bit in the leg!”  
“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you Gears, you handled Clef pretty well back there, even with him panicking, how’d you manage that?” Gerald questioned.  
“During my youth I took a summer job as a lifeguard. It was most rewarding.” He answered.  
“Hey, are we just going to gloss over Clef’s sudden British accent?” Diogenes questioned. They all looked at each other. Yes it was something that was on all their minds, it wasn’t something you just missed, but was it too soon to be asking?  
“No point in denying we all heard it.” Bright said. He looked over to Clef and Kondraki.

Clef had calmed down a considerable amount, his breath still a bit shaky and he still refused to look Kondraki in the eyes. Kondraki didn’t take offence to this, it wasn’t the first time Clef averted his gaze from him or flinched away from his touch, he’d ground himself eventually, wasn’t the first time this happened and it wouldn’t be the last time. And that was fine, if he wanted Kondraki close he’d let him know. Kondraki felt Clef wrap his arms around him. It was a good sign, he was more present. Still, when it came to this, Kondraki never went ahead with anything.  
“Is it alright if I hug you, Alto?” Kondraki asked. Clef nodded his head and soon he felt Kondraki’s strong arm wrap around him.  
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry...” Clef’s voice was barely above a whisper.  
“Shhh, it’s alright. I got you. No one’s gonna hurt you now.” Clef rested his head against Kondraki’s chest. “Do you wanna go inside?” He felt him nod. “Can you walk?” Another nod was felt. “Alright, we’re gonna stand up on three, okay? Three.” Kondraki and Clef rose to their feet, Clef’s legs still unsteady. “Just one step at a time, Alto. Lean on me when you need to.” He assured him calmly. The two silently made their way back to the cabin, Kondraki occasionally offering small words of comfort. The others followed a few feet behind, deciding that hanging out by the lake had lost its luster.

Inside they found Yoric and Lament in the living room watching a rerun of “Golden Girls” eating some of the chips they brought.  
“You guys are back early, what happened?” Yoric turned around and looked at the group. He was a bit surprised to see Clef was wet. He looked at Kondraki, Iceberg, and Gears who were just as wet. “Finally decided to learn how to swim, Clef?” Yoric joked. He figured someone just tossed him in the lake and the other three had to fish him out, or at the very least pour water on him. Though his joke was met with a head slap by Bright. “Ow! What the hell man?!”  
“Clef fell in the water and Gears was bit by a merman.” Iceberg answered the agent’s question. Yoric looked to the group.  
“There’s a merman in the lake?” Yoric questioned.  
“Not now Yoric.” Bright said as Kondraki and Clef retreated to their room.  
“Okay, seriously, what the hell happened to Clef? I’ve never seen him that quiet before and it’s freaking me out.” Lament turned around to look at the others.  
“It’s a long story I’m sure Kondraki and Clef would rather be kept untold for now.” Bright spoke. Lament and Yoric nodded their heads. If they wanted information, they’d either have to wait or just never know.  
“What episode of ‘Golden Girls’ are you watching?” Gerald changed the subject.  
“The one where Rose took in the dog.” Yoric answered.  
“I’m gonna go change and join you.” Gerald started walking upstairs, only to fall up them. “Ow!”  
“You okay Gerald?” Bright was already making his way to the stairs.  
“I’m fine.” He said. The group dispersed, changing into something more casual before coming back to the living room and sitting on the couches and chairs, watching the “Golden Girls” marathon with Yoric and Lament. No one talked about the fact that Clef was silent the rest of the night or that he was practically glued to Kondraki. None of them were stupid enough to comment on either.

A few hours had gone by before Merrick finally shook from his ice-induced slumber. He looked around and found his love was not there.  
“Merrick! There you are.” He looked over and saw his older sisters, Rosenrot and Nishan. By human standards, Rosenrot was cute, by their standards… well she wasn’t much of a looker. Nishan on the other hand was beautiful. She could have any merman or mermaid she wanted. Hell, there were probably humans she could have if she wanted.  
“Oh, hey.” Merrick greeted with a small smile.  
“Where have you been? We’ve been worried about you.” Nishan said.  
“I saw a pretty human today! I tried saving him from the other humans, but one of them knocked me out.”  
“Are you sure that the human needed saving?” Rosenrot questioned.  
“Of course I’m sure! He was scared. And he was so happy to be freed from them when I pulled him into the water and that’s when one of them knocked me out.” Merrick replied.  
“I don’t know, Merri, sometimes you jump the gun a bit and get a little ahead of yourself. This isn’t the first time you’ve fallen for someone.”  
“No we were meant to be together! He just needs the right coercing!”  
“See, relationships shouldn’t start like that, Merri.”  
“Oh what do you know, Rosenrot? The only merfolk you could attract would have to be blind.” Nishan shot at Rosenrot. Nishan turned her attention to Merrick, “If he’s still with those humans, you should bring him to live with us. He’d probably be safer. Especially if you two are meant to be together.”  
“See? Why can’t you be more supportive like Nishan, Rosenrot?” Rosenrot just let out a sigh, she knew it was fruitless, when Nishan wanted to play with someone’s heart there wasn’t much she could do. No one would listen to the ugly twin when the beautiful one spoke to them.  
“I’ll see you both at home then.” She swam away after that, knowing nothing she was going to say would change Merrick’s mind. The remaining siblings looked to each other, planning what to do.

Back in the cabin the group decided to turn in and hopefully put the day behind them. Kondraki laid down beside Clef in their bed, staring at the ceiling while Clef lightly snored, his entire body rigid, he was asleep, yes, but still on edge. He stared at Clef for a while, worried both for him and about him. There were times when the nightmares would come and both would be up half the night for it, but that was the thing; it was always just Kondraki who saw Clef panic, just Kondraki who saw him cry, just Kondraki who saw Alto “I’ll shoot you in the face and feel nothing” Clef this vulnerable, but now they saw it too. What’s more, they heard the sudden change in accent. Kondraki’s racing thoughts were interrupted by a knock on their door. He replaced his glasses on his face and looked at the clock on his nightstand, seeing the digital red numbers read 1:45AM. He got out of bed, careful not to disturb Clef, and opened the door. There he was greeted by his colleagues, Glass at the middle and Bright and Gears on either side.

“Everything alright?” Kondraki studied everyone’s faces. He knew it was only a matter of time before Glass came to offer his services, he was a psychiatrist, it was in his nature to want to help. The others though; he wondered if it was that innate desire to understand that prompted them to follow, that sick desire to look, to pry into others lives, like the Foundation did to Clef years ago. He wondered if Bright had placed a bet of sorts for a spell.  
“How’s Clef holding up?” Bright was the first to speak, sincerity in his eyes.  
“He’s fine.” Kondraki answered. Still studying them, silently trying to figure out why they were here.  
“Shit man, it’s just... We knew Clef was messed up, we all are… it’s just…” Bright trailed off. He didn’t want to finish that sentence, didn’t want to acknowledge that Clef could be that scared and vulnerable and small. Kondraki nodded his head in understanding. He knew what Bright was trying to say.  
“If Clef wants to talk he knows where to find me.” Glass offered. Kondraki nodded his head in thanks.  
“Right, that all?” Kondraki asked. It wasn’t that he was ungrateful. He just didn’t want to deal with this while it was still fresh. He knew Clef didn’t.  
“Yeah, we just wanted to make sure Clef was alright is all… at least as alright as one can be given our situation.”  
“Yeah, I get what you’re saying, Bright.”  
“Well, now that we have said our piece, we will let you go back to sleep. Good night Kondraki.” The group nodded to each other before retreating to their respective rooms. Kondraki went back to bed and soon fell into a light sleep.

Screaming. Screaming and thrashing. That’s what woke Kondraki up. He shot up from the bed reaching for his gun and aiming in front of him. He looked beside himself after a moment, seeing the screams were coming from Clef. He was still asleep but he was writhing and crying out. He couldn’t make out what he was saying, but seeing that Clef was bleeding again it didn’t take long for him to know what he was dreaming about. He lowered his gun, setting it on the nightstand again. He hated this part. He hated how helpless he felt, hated how trapped Clef was, hated knowing that all he could do was watch him struggle. When the nightmares were this bad Kondraki couldn’t touch him, wouldn’t touch him, he made the mistake of doing that once… never again. He never wanted Clef to look at him with that level of fear if he could help it, so all he could do was stay awake, wait, pray when he was really desperate, anything to make it bearable. Kondraki got out of bed, thanking whoever was listening for letting their room have a joint bathroom inside. He flipped on the light so Clef would have an idea where to go when he inevitably threw up blood and flood water. Even if he didn’t make it, there’d at least be some light for him to get his bearings.

An hour or so passed before Clef finally woke from his hellscape of a nightmare, though it was far from over; he’d managed to stumble out of the bed, looking wildly around for something familiar, his eyes fell on the tall man with dark hair who had his back turned to him, good. He didn’t want him looking at him. He didn’t want anyone looking at him, but there was something about this person that made it worse for him to see him like this. He felt his chest tighten before a wave of nausea hit him. He looked to the only room that had light. They always said to follow the light in the movies didn’t they? Yeah. He stumbled on shaky legs only making it to the sink before blood and flood water spewed from his mouth. This continued until he had nothing left to throw up, leaving him only to dry heave a while longer before finally laying down on the floor and curling up, still shaking. Fuck, he was tired, but he didn’t want to go back to sleep, couldn’t go back to sleep. Or perhaps he was sleeping now? It was hard to tell when he got like this. _She_ wasn’t here at the moment, but that could always change. _She_ could be gone one second and there the next, it wasn’t something new, it was to be expected.

If he was honest everything felt far away, like he was trapped under the water. He thought he heard sobbing. He wondered if he was making any noise, if he was alone or if someone was there… no someone was there. A man… who was he? Why was he there? He felt familiar, but he couldn’t place him. Dark hair, green eyes, glasses… when did he see his face? Where did he see him? The sound of sobs and gasps and rushing, boiling water continued to fill his ears, when there came an entirely new sound that floated his way. The words, if that’s what they were, made no sense to him. Something about it was melodic, calming though. Was it a trick? Was he imagining it? He curled into a tighter ball, the sobs continued as his body shook, perhaps he was crying.

Kondraki had stood by the window with his back to Clef, he’d asked him in the past to not look at him when he was like this, at least until he was either more grounded or wasn’t moving. He tensed when he heard Clef retching, he’d heard it before, didn’t make it any easier. He listened as the retching turned to dry heaves and the dry heaves turned to sobs and gasps. Kondraki had seen the aftermath so many times he could already see Clef curled up, he silently made his way to the bathroom, mindful to keep out for now. He sat down so that his back was against the door frame, his body just barely crossing the threshold. There wasn’t much he could do for Clef at this point, he knew nights like this touch was the last thing he wanted. He’d asked him before if there was something, anything he could do to try and help ground him back to the present, Clef had initially shrugged. He’d dealt with this on his own for so long that he never thought about what to do if he was with someone and they saw… though he didn’t think he’d fall in love again either he’d always chuckle, try to pretend it wasn’t as serious as it was. Besides that, how did you ground someone to reality when it could be bent to a type green’s will?

“Aaa, kotki dwa, szarobure obydwa, nic nie będą robiły, tylko ciebie bawiły. Aaa, kotki dwa, szarobure obydwa, jak się kotki rozegrały, to dziecinę kołysały.” He didn’t know why he chose to sing, let alone a lullaby. Maybe because it was simple, melodic? Was it more a comfort to him or Clef? He wasn’t sure at the moment but it did help pass the time, so he’d continue to sing until Clef told him to clam up. “Aaa, kotki dwa, szarobure obydwa, jeden szary, drugi bury, a ten trzeci myk! do dziury. Aaa, kotki dwa, szarobure obydwa, żeby tylko jeden był, to by z tobą mleczko pił.” He let out a small sigh at the conclusion of the song, staring at the wall.

Kondraki turned his head to see how Clef was doing. He was still curled up, occasionally uncurling and writhing before curling back up. He turned back around before a figure hit him across the skull with something, he crumpled to the floor, unconscious. Merrick looked into the bathroom, his heart broke as he saw the traces of blood on the floor and the silent whimpering coming from Clef. He carefully scooped him up and started carrying him out of the cabin. He would be safe soon. He’d protect him from these humans, especially this tall one. He probably gave him all these injuries too. If Merrick didn’t have pressing matters to attend to he would make this human pay dearly for raising a hand to his beloved. He stepped out of the cabin with Clef, carrying him bridal style towards the lake. His love was mumbling something, he wasn’t entirely sure what. He leaned his ear closer to try and understand what he was saying.  
“Konny, please. Please, Konny.” His beloved was grabbing his arm, he was so shaky. Which lead to a few questions. Was Konny what he called that tall one? Was it a human’s term of endearment for their partner? He’d figure it out later. He was lost in thought as he imagined his life with his beloved. It’d be a bit hard at first; given he was a human, but there were plants in the lake that he could eat that would make it easier for him to breathe underwater or he could always wear a helmet. Alternatively they could both live on the surface; they’d need to live near a lake, but he was sure his beloved wouldn’t mind. As long as they were together they’d both be happy.

He felt his beloved moving in his arms, he probably wanted to walk, well alright, he saw no harm in that, they would be married soon. Another set of questions, would they be on land or underwater? Would one of them wear a beautiful dress? He’d look beautiful, handsome even in white, but he could wear the dress if his beloved felt uncomfortable in that. It was a good sign he wanted to walk too, just as excited as he was to start his new life with him. He wondered what his name was. He looked like an Anwyll or maybe an Asher? Cecil maybe? Or Cyril? He just barely let his beloved’s feet touch the ground before he heard a gruff booming voice.  
“CLEF!” Clef? What was a Clef? Was that his name? He was about to ask his beloved what a Clef was when he felt him scramble away from him. He froze for a moment, wondering why his beloved was running away, he looked behind him and then saw why. That tall one was here; he was bleeding and damn did he look angry. He was going to hurt him again! He was going to keep them apart! He couldn’t let that happen, wouldn’t let it happen. He should have hit him harder. Should have made sure he stayed down. No matter. It was just him, he could fight him. For his love he’d do anything. But the tall one didn’t go for him, he moved to his beloved. “Clef?” The tall one didn’t touch him, just hovered over him, he didn’t like it, but he didn’t want to risk hurting Clef.  
“ **DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME! GET BACK!** ” Merrick watched as he tried to kick the tall one away. He felt his heart swell with pride; if this didn’t get the point across that he and Clef were meant to be together, that he wanted to be with him, he had no problem helping him understand.

Clef had no idea how he ended up outside in all honesty, he’d felt someone lift him up. He figured it was the person with the melodic voice, the one with the dark hair and green eyes, but why were they getting close to the water? He didn’t want to go in the water. Didn’t want to go near it. In the back of his mind he remembered a person telling him to apologize and he wouldn’t be thrown into the water. What was his name though? His quickly raced through all the names in his mind, trying to match a name to the face. Konnor? Konrad? Kondraki… Kondraki! Konny, Konny, he called him Konny. But why was he doing this? Was it the bleeding? Was it the retching? Was he just like _her_? He tried pleading with him, he didn’t answer. He tried moving and he started to set him down when a voice boomed from behind. How did he find both fear and comfort from it? He moved to get away when he felt someone near, _saw_ someone near. It was Kondraki. Normally he’d be happy to see him. Now? No. He wanted nothing to do with him. He was taking him to the lake, or at least trying to. He scrambled away from him and got to his feet. He had to run. Needed to run. They were either going to put him in the lake with the rest of them or he was going to be 4231 again. Neither option was good. He didn’t want to lose his freedom and be placed in containment again, he didn’t want to die either. So running was the only option he had, so he did. He heard voices shouting, screaming at him to come back, felt the cold rain beating down on him. He needed to put distance between himself and whoever was here with Konny.

The others didn’t do much when they heard Clef scream, Kondraki could handle it, those closer to the duo didn’t do anything when they heard Clef throwing up or Kondraki’s hauntingly beautiful singing voice. They did however start moving when they heard the door to the cabin open, they ran when Kondraki and Clef’s door opened. By the time they’d managed to get there they found Kondraki unconscious on the floor bleeding and blood on the bathroom floor and in the sink. They didn’t find Clef. Whatever it was that came in either took him or he was in pursuit of them. Glass went over to Kondraki, hoping to wake him and get an answer from him about what happened. Instead what he got was an angry, bleeding Polish man who rose to his feet and stumbled outside. Those remaining looked to each other before chasing after him. When they finally got outside it was pouring. They saw two figures following after another, Iceberg squinted his eyes, working to make out who was who.  
“Who’s that guy?” He heard Yoric ask.

The others strained their eyes as well. They could make out Clef and Kondraki. Iceberg was the first to speak when he recognized the third person.  
“Oh you motherfucker.”  
“What?”  
“It’s the merman that bit Gears!” The group watched as Clef backed away from both figures and took off with the duo following him. “I’ll help Kondraki with the merman.” He ran off before anyone could stop him. Glass looked to the group on the run. Something wasn’t right. Well, clearly something wasn’t right, that much was obvious.  
“Clef’s somewhere else. We need to ground him.” He heard Diogenes speak.  
“Yeah, we need to get to Clef before he hurts himself or Kondraki.” Lament agreed. Whoever this merman was he didn’t really care what happened to him if he was honest.  
“Good luck with that, Lament.” Bright chuckled, ”In case you forgot, Clef isn’t going to let Glass anywhere near him.” Worry laced Bright’s voice as he continued, “I doubt he’ll let anyone near him at this point if he’s running from Kondraki.”  
“Perhaps Glass can instruct one of us how to talk him down in case he becomes combative.”  
“Are you volunteering Gears?”

Clef risked a look behind him. Kondraki and some no named man were chasing him. He squinted through the rain when he saw another figure running just as fast as the others, fear gripped his heart as he pushed himself to go faster. He needed to run faster, get away. He wasn’t looking where he was going until his foot touched the water. He violently flinched away feeling himself fall into something. His eyes darted around looking for an out. There was nothing, he was cornered. He turned his head to look up and was met with Gears’ expressionless face. He scrambled out of his arms backing away from him till his back hit a log. He was stuck. He was going to be a skip again. Gears slowly approached Clef, still giving him space so that he didn’t feel trapped.

“Alto.” Clef heard Gears say.  
“Please, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He heard himself cry out as he tucked his head in his arms.  
“Alto. Breathe in and out.” Gears exaggerated a bit so Clef could hear his breathing. “Deep breathes. In. Out. Good.” Gears continued when Clef started to mimic him, “Can you describe your location right now?” Clef glanced out from under his arms.  
“What?”  
“Can you describe your location?” He repeated. His voice was calm, patient. Clef took in another breath and looked around.  
“Ah… fuck.”  
“Take your time. There’s no rush.” Gears assured.  
“Hmmm… there’s a lake. Sand. It’s raining outside… there’s a cabin… Wait, how is there a cabin here? Where the hell am I?”  
“You are in Roxwater, Michigan. Do you remember why we are here?” Roxwater? The hell was Roxwater, Michigan? Was there a Type Green here? No, that couldn’t be. His team wasn’t with him… but they hadn’t been with him for a while now. Hadn’t been with the GOC in a while. He worked for the Foundation.  
“... We’re on vacation.” He said after a moment of silence passed.

Recognition set in Clef’s eyes as he stared back at Gears.  
“How are you feeling, Alto?” Gears watched as Clef did his best to rebuild the bravado, the shit eating grin he always had, everything that had been dismantled since this morning. He wasn’t about to deny him that. He simply looked to Kondraki, Iceberg and the Merman.  
“How many times do I have to teach you this lesson, fish man!” Gears watched as Iceberg gave the merman an uppercut. The latter crashed to the ground unconscious, the sky cleared up almost immediately after the merman fell unconscious. Gears looked to the porch and saw the others “come out”. Glass more than likely had them step back inside and wait a few minutes to allow Clef the option to believe the others were just coming now.

Bright had brought some rope with him and once the unconscious man was bound, now came the question, what were they going to do with him?  
“Bring him inside.” Lament suggested. Everyone ignored the sparkle Yoric got in his eyes, keeping their focus on Lament, “We’ll put him in the bathtub upstairs away from Doctors Clef and Kondraki. We can take turns watching him until we figure out what to do with him.”  
“Sounds good to me.”

The next time Merrick opened his eyes he was in some strange place. He was somehow still in water, but he knew it wasn’t the lake, and his tail was back. He turned his head and was met with the cold human and a new human. He was fairly attractive; not like… Clef, that was what the tall one called him, but attractive all the same. His hair was short like most male humans and what they would call dirty blond. His eyes were a lighter shade of algae green, a pair of brown oval framed glasses rested on his round nose and some spots were scattered across his round face, not way too much, but enough to notice. He was taller than Clef by a couple of inches, bit leaner body wise. He wore a blue shirt with a picture on it, but he couldn’t really tell what it was, and a pair of gray shorts. He couldn’t see his feet. Not at this angle anyway. He’d been staring at him for so long he didn’t hear the cold one ask him anything.  
“Hey! Let’s focus here. You can stare at the blond idiot later.”  
“Hey!” The new human looked offended by the cold one’s words.  
“Can you just focus for like five minutes?” The cold one grabbed what humans call paper and pen. “I’ve got questions that need answering.”

Merrick nodded his head, though the cold one was probably talking to the new one.  
“Very well. You may ask me anything. You have bested me in unarmed combat. I am to do whatever you ask of me.”  
“... What?” Merrick tilted his head at the cold one’s confusion.  
“You and the tall one have beat me in unarmed combat. By law I am to do as you ask of me.” Everyone knew that didn’t they? Maybe it was just a merfolk thing?  
“... The tall one? Do you mean Dr. Kondraki?”  
“Is that his name? Hmmm maybe that’s who he was talking about?”  
“Who?”  
“Umm… Clef I think is what you call him? He looks more like a Cecil to me, to be honest. But names aren’t everything, not to me anyway.”  
“Names don’t mean anything to you?”  
“He could be named Chowder for all I care, I’d still love him.”  
“Wait, hold on… back up. Love?” The cold looked even more confused.  
“Yeah. It was love at first sight. Not to sound like Romeo and Juliet, but yeah. I wanted to save him and have him meet my family.” Merrick explained. Both humans stared at him, their eyes widened, clearly shocked. The cold one was the first to speak.

“... So… recapping.” The cold one’s tongue clicked, “You fell in love with Clef…”  
“Who were you saving him from?” The new one interrupted. Merricked looked to the new human dumbfounded.  
“You guys were gonna hurt him. I had to do something!” The humans looked to each other and then to him. “He was bleeding when I saw him again. That Kondraki is mean. He hurt Clef! Made him bleed all over the floor and then acts like he’s the good guy. Clef didn’t even want to go back with him anyway! He wanted to stay with me.” The cold one pinched the bridge of his nose.  
“Listen, um… What’s your name?”  
“Merrick.”  
“Merrick. Kondraki and Clef are dating. That’s the first thing. The second is you almost kidnapped Clef.” Merrick looked at the two in horror.  
“What?!” The new human placed a hand behind his own head as the cold one continued.  
“Yeah… Clef hates water with a burning passion, he also can’t swim. So not only were you kidnapping Clef, you were most likely going to kill him.” Merrick’s mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. He was doing what he was claiming that Kondraki was doing; hurting him. And he was with someone so he was a potential home wrecker too, oh gods, oh no. A burst of lightning cracked through the sky as rain began to pour. “Hey are you gonna be okay?” Merrick didn’t know who was saying that or who it was directed to. Everything was getting muffled and blurry. His skin started crawling and itching. A boom of thunder echoed as he raked his nail across his arms and face. He wanted the itching to stop, needed to stop.

He felt something grab his arms, his wide eyes shot up, looking at those beautiful algae green eyes. The new human offered a kind smile.  
“Easy now. Don’t want you to scar up that pretty face of yours. Just gotta breathe.” Merrick watched as the new human took in a deep breath and exhaled. Merrick kept his eyes on the new human as he started to mimic him, everything around them melting away until all that remained were him and this human. After a few moments had passed the itching stopped and the sky cleared up. Merrick was unsure what to do with himself, his eyes remained on the new human’s. He couldn’t look away. Were they supposed to kiss? Was he the damsel in distress to the new human’s knight? He felt his cheeks heating up before forcing himself to look away, pulling his hands back to cover his face as he dove under the water… this would prove to be one of Merrick’s dumber ideas as his face hit the bottom. He let out a yelp before shooting his head back up out of the water, splashing the new human and the cold one.

Iceberg watched in some emotion he couldn’t place, confusion, awe maybe? The moment Merrick began panicking a storm picked up, when Yoric calmed him, the storm disappeared. Then he watched as the two stared at each other, is this what him and Gears looked like when they did that? No. Neither of them looked that dopey. He then saw Merrick try to dive under the water only to come back up with a bloody nose and getting both him and Yoric wet.  
“You okay?” He heard Yoric ask.  
“Sorry, sorry.” Merrick muffled through his hands. A bit of blood seeping through between his fingers.  
“It’s alright, I’m sure you’re not used to being in this shallow of water. Here.” Yoric offered Merrick a towel, Iceberg took it before grabbing tissue.  
“We can’t just use towels that aren’t ours.” He scolded as he put the box in his hands.  
“Alright, sorry.” Merrick looked between the two of them with uncertainty, what was he supposed to do with that? Yoric noted the look in Merrick’s eyes. “Here, move your hands for a moment, can you breathe through your mouth for a bit?” Merrick nodded his head before lowering his hands. Blood continued to flow freely from Merrick’s face as Yoric carefully placed some tissue over the merman’s nose, pinching the nostrils closed and tilting Merrick forward a bit.  
“How long do I have to be like this?” The question was muffled but Yoric heard it all the same.  
“Until your nose clots.”  
“I’ll ask you the rest of my questions a bit later, call me when he’s less bloodied.” Iceberg walked out leaving the two alone.

A few minutes passed and the bleeding finally stopped, Yoric tossed the used tissue in the trash before going back to the tub.  
“Let’s get that face of yours cleaned up, yeah?”  
“O-Okay.” Yoric got up again and grabbed the towel Iceberg had taken away previously. He ran it under warm water in the sink before wringing it out. “I thought you couldn’t use that?”  
“I know how to get the blood out, don’t worry.” Yoric offered another smile before kneeling in front of Merrick again. “Is it alright if I touch your face?” Merrick nodded his head, watching Yoric as he brought the warm cloth to his face, carefully wiping away the blood.  
“Umm, I, uh, didn’t catch your name. Can you tell me what it is?”  
“It’s, uh, Jack. Jack Dawkins, but everyone calls me Poor Yoric or Yoric for short.” He chuckled. Merrick smiled a bit at him as he continued to wipe down his face. The combination of gentle scrubbing and warm water made Merrick melt into Yoric’s touch, subconsciously making trilling sounds of content.

Yoric set the towel aside, staring at Merrick’s face once more. He looked so cute and dorky with his hair down like this. So content and calm.  
“ _No, stop that! Oh jeez. Okay, just act normal. Pick up the towel, Yoric, cool it._ ” Yoric moved to pick up the towel again, breaking his gaze from Merrick. He brought it up to Merrick’s face again. He noticed he’d missed a spot near his upper lip. Yoric carefully dabbed at it as the blood came off. Again those thoughts came back. He had to argue with himself, “ _Don’t kiss him. Don’t kiss him. Don’t think about how soft his lips look. Don’t think about how cute he is. Just don’t._ ” Yoric felt his hands go up and gently cup Merrick’s face. Merrick carefully brought his hands up to do the same to Yoric. He felt his cheeks heat up and cool all at once because of the merman’s cool hands. He couldn’t tell if they were pulling each other closer or if some invisible force was but he couldn’t bring himself to fight it.

Merrick his heart picked up when Yoric’s eyes met his own. He felt his ears droop a bit when he looked away and “ _Oh gods were we supposed to kiss? Did I blow it?_ ” He wondered. He felt the towel come back up to his lip before setting the cloth down again. His heart picked up again and his ears perked when Yoric placed his hands on his cheeks. What was he supposed to do? Did he grab his face too? Was that what he was supposed to do? He took the human’s face in his hands as well, feeling the warmth that radiated from Yoric’s cheeks. He stared into Yoric’s eyes before leaning a bit forward, his eyes closed as Yoric’s lips met his. He slid one hand down to Yoric’s chest while the other made its way to the human’s hair. It was soft and wet, granted he imagined it was his hands that were responsible for the dampness on Yoric. Merrick felt a hand trail down between his shoulders to the small of his back. Chills ran throughout his skin at the feeling. Another hand went to the back of his head and neck. Merrick carded his fingers through Yoric’s hair as he felt him slip his tongue into his mouth. It felt a bit odd, but he didn’t hate it, he tentatively guided his own tongue into the other’s mouth, carefully exploring. A small gasp was heard followed by a metallic, coppery sort of taste, there was a brief pause before Yoric made a humming sound and continued to glide his tongue along in Merrick’s mouth. He felt himself getting pulled closer. He hadn’t realized he’d been pulled out of the tub until he felt his back on the cool floor. It was Merrick’s turn to gasp then.

The two finally broke the kiss, panting as they both opened their eyes.  
"That was... nice." Yoric was the first to break the silence as he looked down at Merrick, a slightly glazed look in his eyes.  
"...Yeah.” Merrick agreed breathlessly. He closed his eyes before opening them again. Was this what he was supposed to be feeling after a kiss? Was it this hard to breath afterwards?  
"You took my breath away, literally."  
"So did you... in fact, it's still not back."  
"Wow, is 'cheezy' your second name?" Yoric lightly teased.  
"No I'm serious I can’t breathe." There was a bit of fear in Merrick’s eyes.  
"What?"  
"There’s too much air in my lungs. I need water." He gasped, his face going red as his body craved water.  
"Oh fuck-"

Iceberg looked to the clock in the kitchen. It’s been almost five minutes since he left them alone up there.  
“Is everything alright, Julian?” He turned and saw Gears standing in the doorway.  
“Yeah, just waiting for Yoric to come down and let me know Merrick’s nose has stopped bleeding.”  
“Merrick?”  
“The merman we caught. Apparently because Kondraki and I beat him in unarmed combat we can ask him anything we want.”  
“Unarmed combat?”  
“His words, not mine. Anyway apparently he has a crush on Clef or did have a crush on him. He seemed pretty horrified when we told him what he was actually doing.” Iceberg explained.  
“Around what time did you tell him this?”  
“There’s no clock in the bathroom.” Iceberg raised an eyebrow, wondering why Gears was so curious about that.  
“If you had to guess?”  
“I don’t know, maybe an hour ago? Why?”  
“An intense storm had brewed up again and almost immediately disappeared after a few minutes. Just like when you knocked Merrick out.”  
“Now that you mention it, when Merrick started panicking that was when the storm picked up and when he calmed down the storm just vanished… I’m going to go check on them. Yoric’s gonna do something undoubtedly stupid.” He ran back up the stairs, Gears following after, and opened the door to find Yoric making out with Merrick. “ _Oh you dumbass. Why are you like this?_ ” Iceberg thought as the duo continued their make out session. Iceberg turned away, not feeling the need to watch a field agent suck faces with a fish. He vaguely heard the two talking before Merrick began gasping. This was how he found himself looking back and watching in amazement as Yoric frantically picked Merrick up, dropped him in the tub and turned on the shower head.  
“... Yoric, what are you doing?” Gears questioned earning a scream from the agent.

“... How long have you been standing there?” Yoric froze in place, his face burning red.  
“Since you and Merrick kissed. Turn off the shower head, you’re gonna flood the cabin.” Iceberg went over and turned off the water. He looked down at Merrick who was currently just staring at the ceiling with unblinking eyes. “What is he doing?”  
“He lost his breath.” Yoric awkwardly replied. Iceberg pinched the bridge of his nose, he didn’t know what he was expecting.  
“... You know what, I’m not gonna question it. How long is he gonna be under there for?” Merrick carefully emerged from the water, looking at Iceberg. He blinked a few times.  
“Did you have more questions for me?” Merrick tilted his head to the side.  
“Yes, are you ready to continue?” Merrick nodded. “Excellent. Yoric, wait outside, Gears will help conduct the interview.”  
“... Um, if it’s okay, could Yoric stay too?”  
“Why?” Iceberg questioned. “ _Dear god what did you do Yoric?_ ” He thought to himself  
“Well, cause he’s my boyfriend now.” Iceberg dropped his pencil.  
“What?” Gears actually looked surprised for once.  
“What did you do, you idiot?!” Of all the moronic things Yoric had to do, he just had to kiss the fish man. That fool. That absolute fool. Idiot, stupid man. Yoric’s getting a list of things he’s not allowed to do if he doesn’t have one already. He’d make one himself if he had to! And the number one rule would be Yoric is not allowed to be left alone with potential humanoid anomalies longer than a minute!  
“I didn’t do anything! We aren’t dating! It was just a kiss, nothing more!” Merrick felt his heart drop at Yoric’s words. His ears drooped down, but tried to keep a straight face. He couldn’t cry, not in front of them anyway.  
“... Can I go home when I finish answering your questions?” Any spark that Merrick had in his eyes gone.

Iceberg watched as Merrick practically deflated at Yoric’s declaration. He picked up his pencil before looking to Merrick again.  
“Yes. Do you still want Yoric to stay, Merrick?” The merman shook his head.  
“No that’s alright.” He replied, his gaze going to his tail.  
“Alright. Yoric.” Iceberg nodded to the door.  
“Wait, Merrick-“  
“Yoric, leave.” While Iceberg was not fond of Merrick he wasn’t going to let Yoric toy with his emotions like this. Yoric was about to try and say something, but quickly shut his mouth when Iceberg glared at him. He just sighed and left.

The duo finished asking their questions and as Iceberg promised he let Merrick go home.  
“We’re just letting him go?” Bright questioned.  
“I told him we would. Besides if we really need him we know where to find him.”  
“And I doubt we’ll need him.” Kondraki spoke as he read.  
“Did you figure out why he came to land?” Lament questioned.  
“Uh, yeah… He had a crush on Clef.” Iceberg answered. Kondraki dropped his book before looking at Iceberg.  
“I’m sorry what now? What now? He what?”  
“Konny I’m right here.” Clef feigned offense. It wasn’t that Kondraki thought others found Clef unattractive, and Clef knew that, it was that small insecurity of being left. He knew the feeling well, he’d felt it from time to time when a new researcher checked Kondraki out. They’d stop the moment they learned he was with him, but that still didn’t stop the occasional “What if?” game to play.  
“Yeah, love at first sight, thought you were hurting him. Thought we all were at first.” Iceberg explained what Merrick told him. “When we told him what he was actually doing though he freaked the hell out. I don’t think he had any true ill intent.”  
“Just a love sick school boy crush?” Bright questioned.  
“Looks that way.”

As Merrick swam home he was met by Rosenrot who hugged him fiercely.  
“Oh Merrick thank the gods you’re safe! We’ve been worried sick about you!” Rosenrot rested her head atop Merrick’s as she hugged him. Merrick hugged her back, resting his head on her shoulder. He was still numb from the bombshell Yoric had dropped on him, but he didn’t want to tell Rosenrot. He didn’t think she’d understand.  
“MERRICK THE SECOND! You get your tailfin in this cave right now!” Both Rosenrot and Merrick jumped at the sound of their mother’s voice. They let go of each other as they both swam into their home. Merinda was no nonsense kinda Mermaid. Her hair was long and wavy, graying now, but still had some black to it. She radiated beauty as did most merfolk of the royal family. “Where have you been?! Do you know how long you were gone?! We looked all over for you! You were nowhere in the lake, I thought the worst had happened! I thought the hunters got you! Then Nishan tells me you’ve gone up to the surface to win the affections of a human!” Merrick remained where he was as his mother continued to scold. He always felt small when his mother yelled at him, but this time he felt exceptionally small. Between his heart getting crushed twice and now this… he hadn’t even realized his mother had stopped yelling at him, let alone that he was crying. “Merrick? Honey, what happened?” Merinda looked to her youngest, he’d always been emotional as a kid, even now, he got it from his late father, gods bless him. But he hasn’t teared up in front of her like this in years. The moment she asked the question though the dams finally broke. Merrick hugged his mother tightly as he cried into her shoulder.  
“I met this really cute human named Clef and I made things awkward because he was with another human and I almost killed him because he doesn’t like the water!” He said in between tears before continuing, “And then I met this other human who calls himself Yoric and we kissed after he cleaned up my face because I got a bloody nose because they had me in a bathtub so I could answer question because the cold one and the one dating Clef beat me in unarmed combat and then the cold one came back with another person and I wanted Yoric to stay because I thought he was my boyfriend because we kissed and he said we weren’t and that the kiss didn’t mean anything!” He cried harder as he felt Merinda wrap her arms around him.  
“Oh, Honey.” Merinda softened at her son’s explanation and his declaration. She knew Merrick didn’t go to land that often if at all, not since his father was killed all those years ago. She also knew humans had different customs from them, but Merrick didn’t know that. Merrick didn’t think he would ever love a human. “Nebulia, stay with your brother, I’ll be back.” Merinda let go of Merrick and swam to her weapon rack. She donned on her armor as she slung a quiver of arrows across her chest and grabbed her bow. She placed her crown on the mannequin.  
“Mom, where are you going?” Rosenrot looked to Merinda, she had an idea on where her mother was heading, but that didn’t stop her from asking.  
“To the surface. I want to talk to this Yoric character.”  
“I’m going with.” Rosenrot swam over and began placing on her own armor. She didn’t know what these humans had in store but she wasn’t taking chances. Especially since she lost her father to humans. Merinda nodded to her daughter. She knew there was no talking her out of it. The two left the cave and jettisoned themselves to the surface, trading their tails for legs they landed just in front of the shoreline. Merinda looked to the sky as the clouds wept along her son.

Inside the cabin Clef remained in a windowless bathroom with Kondraki while everyone else stayed nearby in the living room.  
“So you kissed the merman?” Bright raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t one to judge; he’d had his fair share of passionate nights with what others would consider monsters, some of those were the best nights of his life. However, he didn’t think Yoric would kiss the guy who almost killed Clef and bit Gears, he was kinda head empty in things like this, he was always head empty in general, but the fact remained the same.  
“Yes, why does everyone seem to care so much? We just kissed.” Yoric questioned, looking at Bright in annoyance. Why did they care? It was a kiss, everyone has done it. Hell, Clef and Bright both had relations with SCPs before and have done far more he might add then what he did. Yet he couldn’t help feeling the guilt that rose in his chest. The look on Merrick’s face when he said it was just a kiss, it was like he’d told him he killed his puppy.  
“Dawkins, his immediate response to your kiss was that you were dating.”  
“Yeah, Yoric, all of us have had great kisses before, but none of us in the history of kissing people immediately thought we were dating that person.” Iceberg pointed out.  
“Oh god, I hope this isn’t some cultural thing.” Bright pinched the bridge of his nose. The others looked to Bright.  
“What do you mean ‘Cultural thing’?” Lament questioned before glaring at Yoric. He just wanted a normal vacation, was that really too much to ask? Who was he kidding, of course it was. You wanna make a deity laugh, tell them your plans.  
“Maybe to his people if you kiss you’re dating?”  
“Oh Bright, don’t be so absurd. Why would a person think you’re dating after a kiss?” Yoric tried reasoning.  
“He said you were dating, you idiot!” Iceberg yelled. There was an awkward tension that filled the room along with the silence before Glass spoke.  
“Hey, guys? Come look out the window please.” Diogenes and Lament approached.  
“Damnit Yoric! You just had to kiss the merman!” Lament yelled.  
“What?” Yoric questioned as he walked to the window. He spotted two women approaching, one with a bow and arrow, the other looked unarmed. “Oh, shit.”

“Mom, please tell me we’ll talk first before we shoot them.”  
“We’ll talk after I’ve decked the one named Yoric.” Merinda answered. The tentacles in her left eye wriggle in varying directions matching their owner's irritation. She looked and spotted faces peering out the window one of them might be Yoric. She pressed forward, making her way to the door, Rosenrot following close behind. She turned her hand into a fist and rapped on the door. The two were met with silence.  
“I know you are inside. I wish to speak to the one named Yoric and I will not leave until I do.” Merinda spoke. There was still silence. Merinda looked to Rosenrot before looking back at the door. “Fine. I have tried civility, terrestrials, now we do this the hard way.” She raised her leg to kick the door down.  
“Wait!” She heard a voice call out.  
“Glass, no!” Another called. The door opened to reveal the man she saw staring out the window earlier.  
“Hello- oh… oh boy. Um, hi, I’m Dr. Glass.” He greeted the two. She could only imagine how she looked; balanced on one leg with the other cocked back, ready to kick. She carefully lowered her leg, looking at the one who called himself Glass.  
“I am Queen Merinda of Pelatria. I wish to speak to the one named Yoric.”  
“Might I ask why?” Glass kept his eyes on the bow in her hands.  
“He broke my son’s heart. I’m here to break his jaw.” She answered with a straight face. The group stared at Merinda, mouths gaped slightly.  
“While he no doubt deserves to get socked in the mouth, we unfortunately can’t let you do that.” Diogenes was the first to speak, moving next to their boyfriend.  
“Unfortunately?” Yoric piped up.

The Queen looked past Glass and Diogenes.  
“You are the one named Yoric?”  
“... No?” Yoric replied, immediately looking for any exit. Merinda moved to enter the room, only to be stopped by Glass. Diogenes tensed a bit as they watched the mermaid stare down their boyfriend, yet Glass didn’t look afraid. He stared back at her like he was staring down an uncaffeinated Kondraki.  
“Your Majesty, I understand your anger toward Yoric, I truly do. But think of your son. Would he want you to do this? Would he do this?” He asked. Merinda looked to Glass unamused.  
“Look around, Doctor. The sky mourns as my son does. Pain is to be returned with pain!” She should have brought her staff, would have helped making points a bit easier. Glass softened his expression the way he always did to try and get people to open up to him. Her train of thought didn’t make full sense to him, but the queen most likely spent most of her life underwater, abiding only by the rules of her people.  
“I understand this, but if we let you hurt Yoric, by your logic we then have to hurt you don’t we? It’s a never ending cycle. No one benefits from that.” Glass watched the hardened look in the queen’s eye softened as well.  
“What would you have me do?” She questioned. There was no sneer to her tone, no malice or anger.  
“We could punch him in your place.”  
“Lament!” Glass looked to the agent in question. No one brought up the potential pain her son brought onto both Clef and Kondraki, nor did they bring up the fact he bit Gears.  
“Mom.” Rosenrot was looking in a different direction.

Merrick had come up to land again, the rain finally stopped, but the weather was far from pleasant. The trees shook violently against the wind. Well, Merrick was no longer sad, now he was pissed. This would have made Rosenrot happy in an odd way, would have even thought Merrick was trying to solve his problem himself. The only problem was Nishan was there, along with the rest of their sisters. No doubt Nishan spoke to Merrick. Not to help of course, for some sick reason Nishan loved messing with Merrick’s heart. Whether it be with relationships with friends or potential lovers she would pretend to help him, only to stab him in the back. She wondered what she’d suggested to him now.  
“YORIC!” For a small merman his voice could carry when he wanted it to. Rosenrot looked to where Yoric stood, he made no move to step outside. She looked back to her brother and sisters. Merrick kept advancing. There was a look in his eyes, something she hadn’t seen in a while, granted Merrick has never been this angry before. He walked past his mother and Rosenrot making a b line, straight for Yoric. There were many responses everyone was expecting, Merrick tackling Yoric to the ground and raining punches down on him as tears streamed down his face was not one of them.  
“Fuck him up, Merrick!” They heard Nishan shout outside.  
“You get what you deserve you bastard!” Rosenrot heard Meltem cheer after.

Yoric made no move to block Merrick’s punches. He ignored the small voice in his head, the years of training that told him to fight back, block, something. Instead he let Merrick continue to rain down his fists wherever they landed, he wasn’t expecting him to pack this much of a punch though. He also wasn’t expecting his glasses to get cracked, but you know, this wasn’t the first time his glasses broke. He was smart enough to close his eyes though in the event the glass broke out of the frames. He risked opening his eyes when he felt a lack of fists hitting him. Through cracked lenses he saw Merrick’s face, he never saw him as an angry crier, but honestly he couldn’t blame him. He didn’t say anything, just stared back at him as Merrick’s anger subsided and was replaced with a look of horror. He looked to his webbed hands in shock as realization set in with what he’d done, his ear drooped down as he looked back at Yoric, immediately apologizing and backing away.  
“Oh, gods. Oh, gods! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Thunder cracked through the sky as panic ran through the small merman, new tears sprang from his eyes as his skin began to itch again. Yoric shakily sat back up before slowly approaching Merrick.

“Hey now, remember what I told you about scarring up that beautiful face.” Yoric offered a small smile as Merrick let out a small laugh between tears, trying to calm himself. “Is it alright if I hug you, Merrick?” He nodded his head as he wrapped his arms around Yoric, burying his face in his chest, muffled apologies continued to flow out of his mouth. Yoric hugged him back, running a hand up and down his back. “I’m alright, Merrick, this isn’t the first time I’ve been knocked around by other guys. I’ve usually got it coming.” Merrick cried all the harder at this.

Glass looked over at Merinda, noting how the tentacles in her left eye pulsated, matching their owner’s own look of anger.  
“I just wanted you to like me!” They all heard Merrick cry. There was a brief pause as everyone looked to Merrick and Yoric. The agent wiped away the merman’s tears.  
“... Merrick, I do like you-”  
“Oh right, because humans who say kisses mean nothing suddenly decide they like a person.” Nishan sneered.  
“I panicked. Not many people declare that you’re dating after one kiss.” Yoric explained, looking to Merinda. Realization fell upon her face. She forgot how much their culture differed from the surface dwellers.  
“You and Merrick have some things to talk about.” She said after a while.  
“They can talk in Yoric’s room.” Glass offered. The two looked at each other before nodding.  
“I might need some help.” Yoric offered a small smile. Merrick nodded again. The two stood up, Yoric telling Merrick where to go.

Inside Yoric’s room the two sat down on the bed. Merrick looked to Yoric, recoiling slightly at the damage he’s done. Yoric gave him a reassuring smile.  
“We should probably clean your face up.” Merrick spoke, looking around for something to wipe away the blood. As Merrick cleaned up Yoric’s face the two sat in silence. Every time he looked at Yoric’s face he couldn’t help the guilt that washed over him. He did this to him. Someone he thought he loved, someone he did love, and this was how he showed it. Why’d he listen to Nishan? Why did he always listen to Nishan? When he took her advice with Clef he made things worse… well she didn’t know that would make things worse, but she didn’t tell Mom it was her idea either. Then she convinced him that he needed to beat up Yoric. He wouldn’t be surprised if Yoric wanted nothing to do with him after this.  
“Penny for your thoughts, Merrick?” The merman looked at him confused. Yoric smiled. He really was a dork. “Figure of speech. Just my way of asking what’s on your mind.” Merrick stilled a moment, looking to the ground.  
“I’m sorry for hitting you.” He said after a moment passed.  
“I’ve been hit like this by guys before, Merrick. Though none of them were quite as beautiful as you.” He smiled as Merrick’s cheeks grew red again. Merrick looked back up at him, confusion still on his face.  
“Look i- what are we? Are we a couple? Are we not? Do terrestrials just do this as a pass time? Why does this have to be so confusing?” With each question Yoric watched as Merrick tensed up, his jaw clenching. He was looking at anything but Yoric. The Foundation Agent couldn’t help the guilt that washed over him. He really did do a number on this poor guy. He may be called Poor Yoric, but right now it felt more like Poor Merrick.  
“Before we even touch on that, I think we should clear up some stuff, so we can avoid these kinds of things in the future.” Merrick thought about it for a bit before nodding in agreement. That was why they came in here after all. “Now first, I wanna apologize for freaking out on you. Like I said among my people one kiss does not a couple make, but I imagine that’s not the case for yours?” Yoric inquired. The Merman nodded his head.  
“Um, when two people kiss… like we did. That usually means that they want to be together. It’s why I was okay with you touching my hair.”  
“Is that something only couples can do?”  
“Yeah. Well partners and close family members.” Yoric nodded in understanding.  
“Merrick, I do like you. Well, more than like, I want to get to know you better and if you’ll still take me, I’d like to be your boyfriend.” Yoric explained. Merrick’s eyes lit up.  
“You… you mean it?” Merrick uttered.  
“Yes.” Yoric smiled at the other again, “So what do yo-” Yoric’s question was interrupted by Merrick wrapping his arms around him, his lips smashing against his. Yoric closed his eyes as he returned the kiss. His hands running through Merrick’s hair, down his back, then up to his hair again. He felt Merrick doing the same, pushing him back onto the bed.

In the living room Glass invited Merinda and her daughters into the cabin to wait for Merrick. The group of women sitting close to the door. Clef and Kondraki went to their room the moment they saw the amount of merfolk in the cabin.  
“Can I get anyone anything to drink?” Glass offered.  
“No thank you, Dr. Glass.” Merinda nodded kindly. Glass looked to the mermaids again before speaking.  
“Can I get you anything to eat?”  
“What _do_ you guys eat anyway?” Iceberg questioned. There was a brief pause, the mermaids looking at the men and Diogenes in the room.  
“Iceberg!” Glass broke out of his stupor first.  
“What? Don’t act like we weren’t all thinking it… well most of us anyway.” Iceberg looked over at Bright.  
“Hey! I didn’t kiss the merman and break his heart. That was all Yoric.” Bright shot back. The mermaids just looked back at. Some smirked, others were unreadable, Merinda and Rosenrot were unamused.  
“I’m sorry. Most of us are scientists and this is the first time we’ve encountered an aquatic civilization. I mean we’ve met water nymphs and even biblical figures so the curiosity is always there… sorry, I’m rambling, I’ll stop talking.” Glass looked away from the mermaids.  
“Our diet consists mostly of fish, however we will eat the occasional bird, frog, duckling, mouse, and small mammal.” Merinda explained after a brief pause.  
“Oh. Do you mind answering a few questions for us?” Iceberg questioned. The Queen thought about it for a moment before nodding her head.  
“I ask only that you direct your questions at me.”  
“Fair enough. So there is an obvious cultural difference in how you see a kiss versus how we do. What are some other differences that you know of?” Iceberg watched the mermaid mull over the answer. If Iceberg didn’t know any better he’d think this wasn’t the first time Merinda has been near humans. The way she was always on guard, the way she put herself between them and her daughters, but this was probably the first time she’d encountered humans that didn’t have an ulterior motive.  
“I am not entirely sure. We don’t come to the surface that much. And when we do we ensure no terrestrials are around.” Merinda said after a while. The men and Diogenes looked at each other before looking at the mermaids again.  
“Terrestrials being people like us?” Iceberg asked. The Queen nodded her head. Her current expression was as unreadable as Gears.  
“All land dwellers. We have a variety of terms for you. Terrestrial is the most pronounceable.”  
“I see.” Iceberg nodded. He opened his mouth to speak again when they heard a door open. Everyone looked over, curious which two they were going to see come out.

Yoric and Merrick walked out of the room, holding hands. Both had smiles plastered on their faces. They looked over at the group who stared back at them. There was a brief moment of silence as everyone realized what this meant.  
“YES! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH! YES!” One of Merrick’s sisters cheered. Bright started clapping and the others joined in soon after… none of them knew why they started doing that. Perhaps a small part of all of them wanted the two to end up together. Merinda rose to her feet and approached the two. She offered a smile to her son before looking at Yoric her face more serious.  
“Any harm comes to my son, there will be no place which you can hide. Have I made myself clear?” The tentacles in her eye snapped at Yoric as she spoke. The Agent nodded his head.  
“Wouldn’t dream of it Mother Dearest.” He smirked at her. Merrick looked away for a moment.  
“You are fortunate my son loves you, I will let that slide this time.” She replied before patting Yoric on the shoulder.  
“Oh! Mom, there’s one thing I have to do.” Merrick scanned the room before spotting Gears. He walked up to the taller man, realizing he was pretty tall… taller than Kondraki even, but no. He had to do this. He had to make it right. He crossed his arms over his chest before bowing to the expressionless scientist. “I have caused you harm and for that I am deeply sorry. Words alone cannot make up for my transgression, all I can do is offer you a blood debt.”  
“Blood debt?” Iceberg raised an eyebrow. What in the world was he talking about?  
“I bit him.” Merrick pointed at Gears’s leg before continuing, “Pain is paid with pain… OH GODS!” His words interrupted by Gears sinking his teeth into Merrick’s shoulder, only releasing him when he broke the skin. Everyone looked at Gears wide eyed. Of all the things Gears could have done, none of them expected him to bite him… well no, the merfolk were expecting it, but Merrick wasn’t expecting it during the explanation. Well, it was only fair he supposed; he probably wasn’t expecting to get bit yesterday either.  
“Your blood debt is paid.” Gears replied simply. Merrick nodded his head. The giant decided that his debt was paid and Merrick would accept this. Glass came over with the first aid kit soon after.

“What is it that you plan to do now?” Merinda questioned Iceberg. The group stood outside on the beach, the Queen and her daughters standing over close to the water, Yoric and Merrick standing next to each other.  
“What do you mean?” Diogenes spoke up.  
“You know of our existence, Dr. Glass has admitted that a good portion of you are scientists. My son is in love with one of your colleagues. It is only a matter of time before the hunters come back.” She explained. She didn’t want to show how truly fearful she was at the thought of losing her family, everything she worked for for her kingdom, to keep them safe from the terrestrials.  
“The Foundation can offer you protection.” Diogenes explained. She tilted her head.  
“Why? Why protect us when you can kill us and research our corpses?” Diogenes wasn’t surprised by her question. It was possible she’d encountered the GOC or simply heard stories about the threats and dangers of humans.  
“We are the SCP Foundation; Secure, Contain, Protect. Humans aren’t the only ones we protect.” He explained.  
“We would like for you to tell us more about your civilization though.” Iceberg explained. Merinda nodded her head. This was a reasonable trade; protection for information. She would need to be careful with what she told them though. She wouldn’t go down in history as the queen who sold out her people and kin to the terrestrials. She looked to Diogenes and nodded her head.  
“This is acceptable.” She offered them her hand to shake. The two shook before Diogenes spoke again.  
“Some agents will be coming in a few days to talk with you. Close this part of the lake and land off to the public.”  
“Only your people will remain here?”  
“Yes.”  
“And what of my son?” Merinda asked. She knew that Yoric wouldn’t stay here and the duo weren’t going to break up, Yoric proved that last night.  
“He’d come with us.” Diogenes explained.  
“Merrick would live at the Foundation until he gets clearance to live with me.” Yoric added, noting the concern on Merinda’s face.  
“He won’t be alone Mom. I’ll go with them.” Rosenrot piped up as she walked over to Merrick and Yoric.  
“Rosenrot…” Merinda trailed off. The thought of losing any of her children hurt, scared her even. They’d be far from her, from their home. Yes they were adults and could make their own decisions, but they were still her babies.  
“We’ll be okay Mom. I’ll keep Merrick safe.” Rosenrot offered her mother a reassuring smile. If she was honest she didn’t want to stay. She wasn’t the eldest so she wouldn’t be taking the throne after her mother, none of the mermen or mermaids found her appealing enough to take her as a mate, there wasn’t much for her here except Nishan’s cruelty. Merinda looked to her daughter sadly.  
“I know you will, Sweetheart, but keep yourself safe as well.” She embraced her daughter, opening her arm to invite Merrick in for a hug. She felt Merrick wrap his arms around her and Rosenrot lovingly.  
“We’ll call you every day.” Merrick promised. The trio let go, the Queen staring at her two children who were going to be leaving.  
“Make sure you call me, okay?”  
“Of course, Mom.” The two spoke. The family hugged one last time saying their goodbyes as Merinda and her remaining daughters left for the lake.

The ride to the airport was a bit awkward. As the staff packed their things and loaded up the trucks Meriick had looked for both Clef and Kondraki.  
_“I have caused both of you harm and I am deeply sorry. No words can-” Merrick had started his attempt to make things right with the others, that is until Clef interrupted him._  
_“Fuck off.” Merrick looked to both parties. Kondraki paid him no mind, simply walking past him every time Merrick tried speaking to him. His ears drooped but he wasn’t that shocked they rejected his apology. He simply nodded his head to the two before leaving the room. He was dead to them now and would need to stay out of their sight._  
The group boarded the airplane finally, with Merrick sitting with Yoric and Lament and Rosenrot sitting by a window with Glass and Diogenes. She looked out the window as the plane took off, she regretted this decision and spent the rest of the flight looking away and talking with the couple next to her. Merrick on the other hand almost immediately fell asleep once he sat down.  
“YEEHAW! To the skies we fly!” Clef glared over his shoulder to find whoever the hollering idiot was. He saw Yoric reading, Lament listening to music, Merrick sleeping, and someone he hadn’t seen in a long time. He had to do a double take. There was no mistaking it, it was the Type Green he and his team killed back in his GOC days. How was he here? They killed him. He knows they killed him.  
“Don’t worry, Merrick. I’ll be watchin’ over you and your sister always.” He heard him say.  
“Clef, you alright?” He heard Kondraki ask. He snapped his head back and saw his partner looking at him.  
“What? Yeah, I’m fine. Of all the guys Yoric could fall for and it’s him.” He shook his head before lowering his hat over his eyes. He wasn’t going to deal with this now. “Wake me when something interesting happens.”

Merinda sat on the floating dock, looking at the sky. She heard the sound of a plane passing overhead and she couldn’t stop the tears that freely flowed from her. Two of her babies were gone now, traveling with scientists of all people. Did she make the right decision? The tentacles tried to comfort their owner to help reassure her she made the right decision. She heard the water break, but didn’t bother looking to see who it was.  
“Mom?” Nebulia’s voice called. She looked over and found the blurry image of her heir sitting next to her. “They’ll be alright, Mom. Rosenrot can keep them both alive.” Merinda wiped her good eye taking a bit of comfort in her daughter’s words.  
“That doesn’t mean I won’t stop worrying.” She replied. Nebulia nodded her head. She didn’t expect to say a few words and have her mom suddenly be okay. But that didn’t mean she’d just let her be worried alone.  
“I know. You’re a mom before you’re a queen. They’ll call when they’ve landed.” Merinda smiled at her daughter. She would make a great queen one day.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for making it all the way through, means the world to me. Merrick had a lot of changes when I was writing him. He literally went from “I’m an angry Muskie merman, to Imma eat Clef bc Type Greens are delicious, to I love Clef and I wanna be with him.” Obviously let go of that when he started dating Yoric bc I’m not that into monogamous characters pining for other monogamous characters that are already in a relationship, partly why I didn’t like the whole thing with Daphne and Niles from Fraiser, but I’m just rambling at this point. Again thank you kindly for reading my story it is much appreciated.


End file.
